A CrossFit charity event shows how to do good by sweating it out while your friends “foot the bill.”
PHOTOS: Operation Broken Wing
“All the fitness in the world amounts to nothing if we don’t use it to help someone in need,” so goes the slogan of last Saturday’s Operation Broken Wing (OBW).
Held in the morning at *Scape, OBW is a CrossFit fitness charity event, in which participants—or “CrossFitters” rally their friends and family to sponsor them for every repetition of a movement done in a 17-minute workout involving various categories. The “rates” pledged range from $0.20 to $5 per rep, with participants completing approximately 200 reps on average.
A total of 32,620 reps were completed that morning, raising a total pledged amount of $97,073—far above the initial target of $60,000. Every dollar raised will be matched by the government, bringing the total pledged amount to $194,146 for the REACH Community Services Society, a local non-profit organization serving youth-at-risk.
In its fourth year now, OBW was organized to “give CrossFitters all across Singapore a platform to give back to the community because youths are truly the next generation of people,” shared Innervate CrossFit founder and organizer Lionel Choong, who picked up the sport six years ago.
CrossFit is a strength and conditioning workout regime that took the fitness world by storm 15 years ago with its combination of high-intensity training, calisthenics (body weight exercises), and Olympic weight lifting.
Choong explains that the name Operation Broken Wing is a reference to youths who needed help “mending their wings” after having experienced setbacks in life, so that they could get back on their feet again.
In fact, the judging panel for OBW comprised youths from REACH itself. “We wanted them to play a bigger role this year in the event … to let them know that their being here … running the event and cheering for the athletes, is significant,” explained Choong.
Asked about his experience, Choong’s brother and fellow participant, Wayne, said, “Yes it was tough! But I definitely felt that I performed much better than my usual trainings and workouts. I guess it was really the heart and meaning behind this particular workout that gave me the added push to go a little further.”
“I always believe that just like in everything else we do, the pursuit of fitness should be, for the glory of God. OBW wasn’t just another workout—I saw it as a chance to help youth-at-risk and a chance to share the love of God,” he added.
